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Pulmonology Coding Alert

ICD-10 Update:

Crosswalk to J Codes and Heed These Descriptor Changes For Streptococcal Pneumonia

Published on Mon Jun 25, 2012

Hint: Watch out for changes to exclusions also in ICD-10 codesAs a pulmonology coder, you're very likely to encounter cases of pneumonia due to Streptococcal pneumoniae. Be proactive and bone up on how to report pneumonia caused due to S. pneumoniae when ICD-10 codes are brought into effect.When a diagnosis of pneumonia due to S. pneumoniae is made by your pulmonologist, you will most probably encounter the following clues in the documentation:Symptoms such as fever (R50.9, Fever, unspecified); cough (R05, Cough); sputum that is yellow or brown in color (R09.3, Abnormal sputum); shortness of breath (R06.02, Shortness of breath); and pain in the area of the chest during breathing (R07.1, Chest pain on breathing). In older patients, you might often see delirium and confusion as part of the symptoms.Upon examination, your pulmonologist might record coarse or crackling breath sounds along with presence of wheezing. Your pulmonologist will order a chest [...]
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